Youth

PSA Youth Programs Overview

PSA seeks to encourage the newest generations to learn and share the enjoyment of photography and is committed to enriching the lives of school age children and youth around the world by introducing them to photography as a means of self-expression and personal growth. The society has experienced the positive role that photography can have in the lives of the world's youth and actively contributes by sponsoring youth-oriented photography exhibitions and scholarships for photography studies.

In 1998, the first "Outstanding Photographs from the Young Photographers" exhibition was selected and shown at the PSA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. The exhibit included 55 prints selected from 200 entries from 35 high schools in six states sponsored by eight PSA Chapters and PSA-member clubs and councils. That was the beginning and the PSA Youth Photography Showcase continues to grow.

The first PSA scholarship was awarded in 1954. In 1957 PSA collaborated with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to award the PSA-RIT Scholarships to beginning RIT photography students. In 1972, PSA established a similar relationship with the Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, CA) to award scholarships to students who were completing their senior year. In 1977, PSA worked in partnership with Brooks Institute (Santa Barbara, CA) to assist students attending the institute to continue their studies. The present PSA Greenhood Scholarships (awarded to second-year students majoring in photography at a school that offers a degree in photography) were first awarded in 2009. The PSA Scholarships and Grants Committee works with the Education Foundation of the Education Management Corporation (EDMC), which oversees the scholarship process for over twenty Art Institutes with photography programs in the US and Canada, to identify the PSA Scholarship Program recipients.